Officer Settles Sexual Harassment Lawsuit
A Ventura police officer settled her sexual harassment lawsuit against the city for $31,722 Wednesday. The case, which dates back to 1994, had been scheduled to go to trial next month.
Officer Kim Stewart alleged in the suit that her supervisor, veteran Sgt. Gary Adkinson, had harassed her because of her sexual orientation and gender. Adkinson, she said, had falsely stated at the police station that Stewart was going on a vacation to Hawaii with two fellow female officers to engage in a sexual orgy.
Stewart was hired in 1992, and had earlier worked for the Santa Barbara Sheriff’s Department. Both Stewart and Adkinson still work at the Ventura Police Department.
Assistant City Atty. Amy Albano said the city settled the case because jury trials take several weeks and are expensive. The settlement, however, was not an admission of guilt, she said. The city and Police Department had already investigated the complaint, but she would not discuss the outcome.
“We just want to put it behind us,” she said.
In a news release, Stewart called the settlement “a wake-up call regarding the issue of sexual harassment in the Police Department and other city agencies.”
Adkinson declined comment.
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